


Romeo and Juliet III: Romeo and Romeo

by McFaye



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: An play of romance, Camp Camp - Freeform, M/M, Maxpres, dadvid cc, david cc - Freeform, some neison since this is after my neison fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-21 17:16:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14289603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McFaye/pseuds/McFaye
Summary: Preston is putting on another play, and he's determined to stop a certain camper from ruining it, by any means necessary, more specifically, casting him as his love interest and stealing his teddy bear





	Romeo and Juliet III: Romeo and Romeo

Preston bounded towards the flagpole with piles of papers in his hands, some falling out of his grip along the way. He was smiling ear to ear as he almost ran into the pole, setting the stack down on the ground, putting his foot on it to keep the papers from blowing away. He shoved his hand into his pocket and picked out a handful of nails and a little toy hammer he had found in the counselors cabin.

He pinned one of the papers to the flagpole and stood back, admiring his work. After the next ten minutes or so the flagpole was coated in flyers for Preston’s new play. He had been against writing the final part in the trilogy for a while after the absolute trash that his production had been turned into, but he finally decided to give it a whirl. He decided to reimagine it, an entirely new cast of characters and entirely new plot. His original sequel to Romeo and Juliet was already pretty far from it, and this next one would just end up entirely detached.

“Hey Preston, the fuck is this?” Preston pulled away from the flagpole to see Max and his cronies behind him.

“Ah! This is the final installment of the classic tale of Romeo and Juliet! It will be amazing, it will be passionate! And of course, there will be no FBI or Bonquisha in sight!” He bent down to meet Max’s eye level, glaring into his pupils. He remembered very well that he had absolutely destroyed his debut, but this time he had a plan.

“Okay Preston, I promise. No harm will befall your prissy little play.” Max claimed he wouldn’t do anything with it but as soon as he realized Preston would be putting one on his eyes lit up. He was already thinking of what plan he would whisper to Neil and Nikki as soon as Preston walked away.

“Oh. It won’t, Max. It won’t.” Preston adjusted his collar and smirked.

“As the flyers indicate, we will begin auditions in about an hour at the stage. Everyone will have a soliloquy to read aloud and I will decide whether or not you can be in the play.” He shoved past the group and headed for the stage.

Max’s sinister smile worked onto his face like clockwork, already devising his way to destroy the play. He was sure it would be a lot more fun to watch a disaster than anything organized. Sure, he could just let Preston have a classic and respectful production but there was no fun in that. Besides, it didn’t seem like Preston ever had much fun with simple plays. He just wanted him to have a good time. He spun on his heels and turned back to Nikki and Neil.

“Okay you two, I’m sure you and I are thinking the same thing?”

“Ooh! Giraffes?”

“No, Nikki. Not giraffes, though that would be fun. No, I’m thinking we have a play to wreck.” Neil narrowed his eyes, unsure about doing this.

“I don’t know, Max, we already wrecked his first one. Are you sure?”

“Absolutely sure. Neil, do you think you can do something with the sandbags?” Neil sighed.

“I guess.”

Max had always been very invested in sabotage, blackmail, and anything that resulted in a huge mess. Or at least a huge mess for someone other than himself. It was fun, especially watching the trainwreck that was Preston’s first camp play. The FBI showing up, a random lady beating up a girl scout, what a ride. That was already a lot to beat, but he was going to have to top it.

He and his friends looked over to the theater camp stage, Preston sitting on a chair in front of it and Space Kid attempting to hold a rose between his teeth, unable to understand that his helmet was preventing that from happening. He almost felt bad for Preston, all the actors he had to work with were atrocious.

“Okay, next!” Harrison climbed onto stage, nervous for Preston’s judgement. He picked up a piece of paper from his pocket and uncrumpled it, struggling to read it as dramatically as possible.

“Bleh! Harrison, you’re using the same kind of drama as in your tricks! Magic and acting are two separate things!”

“Uh, I thought it was really nice..” Max turned on his heel to look at Neil for his compliment, and then back to Harrison, who was smiling fondly at him.

Preston groaned and gestured for him to get off the stage. One of the issues with his writing prowess was that all the people who were available for the play had no acting skills whatsoever. Maybe he should have posted the flyers in the middle of town, he might have found someone who could actually perform, his productions might be taken seriously then. Unfortunately, he didn’t have access to town or any of its people, so he would need the next best thing. A select few of the campers had at least some potential, and he was going to get it.

“Can I help you?”

“We were just watching the auditions, seeing how it was going.” Preston narrowed his eyes. He knew exactly how Max’s eyes gleamed when he was scheming, and this play was going to be completely exempt from his roughhousing.

“Well, if you’re so interested why don’t you be a part of it? We could sure use some actors who can tell the difference between their lefts and rights. Well, stage lefts and stage rights.”

Max was already grateful for his opportunity to trash Preston’s play but now he was just making this easy. Last time he hadn’t even tried to ruin the play, he was just really bored and wasn’t happy to be in it whatsoever. But now, he was just dying to be a part of things.

“Why I would love to be an actor in your play, Preston. What’s it about?”

“As you may remember, my last play was a sequel to Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet. Seeing as that turned out to be a disaster, I’m reimagining the reimagining! New characters, new plots! It will be so much better, I’ll get to have it played through accurately, and nothing. Will. Ruin. It. I can assure you.”

“If any of you want an audition, you can get one of the papers with the audition piece and get in line.” This would be like taking candy from an actor.

Preston resumed his spot sitting in front of the stage, going through some more of the campers. He approved some of them who had been good in the last play, and those who hadn’t been in it but seemed promising. He just wanted his acting and directing to be taken seriously, it was his passion, his favorite thing, he lived for theater. Sure, he was eleven but that didn’t mean he wasn’t that invested in acting. Hell, he wore a frilly collar and puffy sleeves everyday.

“Guys, we have to be a part of this play. If we’re in it we can destroy it from the inside!”

 

“An inside job? My mom says that’s why dad went to jail.”

“Nikki, focus. This is about fucking up these stupid plays. Maybe then he’ll stop prancing around like he owns the place.”

“Since when does his air of superiority affect you?” Nikki paused and then smiled, remembering a piece of information Max had trusted her with.

“Max just doesn’t want to swoon anymore!”

“Nikki! Shut! That is not true and has nothing to do with this. This is about one of the biggest pranks in Camp Campbell history. If there is not at least one fire by the end of this then we haven’t done it right.”  
\--

Max, Nikki, and Neil stood in line for what seemed like hours. Preston was so exceptionally devoted to this that he was seriously assessing almost every camper. Minutes dwindled on forever and finally Max was next in line. Looking down at the handwritten lines he was supposed to read he observed the title of the play. Romeo and Juilet III: Romeo and Romeo. He practically skipped onto stage after spending the whole time waiting in line to go over their final plan for ruining the play. The only thing left to do was to be in it.

“Alright, read your lines!” Max normally wanted nothing to do with the dramatic speaking that often came with acting, but now he was going to put all the heart he had into it.

“Oh dearest Romeo, my heart yearns for you with longing. I have waited many nights for you to come to me, and now I have gotten my wish.” Looking up from his paper and to the actor judging him, he could see Preston smiling incredibly wide. He sniffed before commending Max on his act.

“Max! That was amazing, I’m sure we can find a spot for you in this production! No one else should even try. Next!”

Max hopped off the stage and sat next to Preston, ready to watch his friends mini performances. He was hoping that they would do good. One, because he needed them to also be in the play for his plan, and also because he legitimately cared about his friends.

Neil’s performance had been full of criticisms, not understanding Preston’s need for romance in all his productions. Nikki had interrupted every other word with questions, trying to figure out how dramatically she was supposed to read it, and if this story would involve wolves or animals of any kind.

Preston begrudgingly let Nikki and Neil into the play, there were many other parts that they would be suited for. Neil could be a more analytical character he had set up. Nikki could be a bear or other animal she could mimic. Finally, all the campers had been gone through and Preston had judged who he could cast. Of course there was a limited cast of characters, and he needed some people in the audience. He rifled through various papers with details of everyone’s performances. He got up from his chair and turned to the campers who had just auditioned.

“Okay everyone, I will post the cast list in a few hours or so. Enjoy the rest of your day!” Max went back over to his friends to discuss the plans.

“Alright Neil, you’re in charge of sandbags and technical jargon, Nikki, you’re in charge of sabotaging people’s acts. Let’s get to work.” Preston headed back to his tent with his papers, going over everyone who had auditioned.

Pretty much every camper was a mess, and definitely had drawbacks to simply talking to them. However, they also had some strong points that would work for what he had written. Finally, he got to Max’s paper. He didn’t know why he had allowed him to be in the play last time, he had destroyed it. But unfortunately his personality and general demeanor were perfect for one of the main characters, which meant that him being in this play was absolutely necessary, a fact he was not happy to face. He was also not happy to face that the role he was perfect for was one that his had to interact with more than others.

He set his papers aside and looked over to Max and his friends conspiring by the stage. Preston wasn’t stupid, he knew damn well that as soon as they saw the flyers that they were already scheming. Before putting them up he had to go over how he would prevent this play from being ruined, specifically by Max and his cronies. He signed up for theater camp and he needed something good to show for it, which meant no Bonquisha, no flower scouts, and no FBI agents. He got up and headed over to them.

“Why hello Max, may I speak to you alone backstage, please?”

Both Nikki and Neil looked back at Max with concern, knowing Preston was probably about to get his revenge. He looked down at Max with a smile and gestured to the stage. For someone who messed up his whole debut, he always seemed to act kind of weird around him. As soon as he smiled at him the little devil’s face got redder. He would never understand him.

“Uh, sure?” Max cautiously followed him to the stage, walking up the steps behind him to behind the curtain. It seemed to him like Preston wasn’t a man of vengeance, he didn’t think he’d hurt a fly, but he was strangely nervous as Preston stopped and turned around to face him.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I cast you in my play.”

“Yeah, I mean I was kind of a douche to you.”

“Exactly why you are perfect for this role. Though of course, I’m not an idiot-”

“Are you sure about that?” Preston grimaced and continued his speech.

“I know you’re planning to wreck this one too. Don’t try to pretend you’re innocent, I can see right through you. But, your audition was quite promising and I need you for this role, which is why I needed a way to keep you in this play and to get you to act as you did in your audition.”

Preston stepped aside and walked over to another set of stairs. Max didn’t understand why the theater camp stage was so big, they definitely didn’t need all this space. Preston pulled out a trunk and unlocked it, took something out, and hid it behind his back. He then pulled it out and showed it to Max. He was holding Mr. Honeynuts, Max’s beloved teddy bear. Max’s eyes widened and he looked to the direction of his tent, wondering when Preston had a chance to steal his stuffed animal, and how he knew he hid it there in the first place.

“Wh- how did you get that?”

Max’s expression quickly changed to one of fear, Mr. Honeynuts clearly meant a lot to him. Though this plan was working pretty well he had to admit that he felt really bad keeping Max’s teddy bear from him. It was for the best, he’d get Max to be an adequate actor and his passion would be taken seriously. That was all he had to do, he could just return the bear afterwards. Max’s distressed face made him want to just hand the bear over and give him a hug and spouting apologies. No, he had to be strong for this plan to work.

“The tents can’t be locked, I could have stolen anything. Here’s the deal: you act accurately and according to the script, I return your precious bear to you. If you mess up my play or refuse to be a part of it I will withhold your doll. How do you respond to that?”

 

“I-it’s not a doll!” Max’s face was heating up again, this time from being angry and embarrassed.

“I say child, how will you respond to this deal?”

Max’s staring in wonderment before had swiftly changed to one of indignation when he realized the stakes. On one hand, ruining Preston’s play would definitely chase away that stupid fluttery feeling he got whenever he performed. On the other hand, Mr. Honeynuts was more than just a bear to him. Though he was an inanimate object he had gotten him through some tough times, he couldn’t stand to lose him. There was only one option for him.

“Fine, I’ll be in your play.”

“And act accordingly?” Max clenched his fist and sighed.

“Yes.”

“Perfect, you will find your name on the cast list when I put it up in a few minutes, and then you will join me and the other campers at this stage for the first reading of the script. Then, in due time when we have the lines down it will be performed. Got it?”

“How long until this whole thing is over?”

“It will take as long as it takes. And until it is done…” Preston went back to the trunk and locked the bear back into it, picking it up, planning on keeping it far from Max.

He watched Preston carry the trunk away from the stage and somewhere into the forest. He had intended on surveying where he hid it so he could steal it back and somehow avoid the performance altogether, but soon he was deep into the forest, and if he tried to follow him he wasn’t sure what else Preston would do to keep him in the play.

Max slumped down backstage and put his head in his hands. He had reasoned that if he could stop Preston’s performances from happening that he wouldn’t have to watch anymore. Max hated when he acted because he hated the feeling he got when he did. He would get butterflies in his stomach and his face would heat up. The first time it happened he thought he was just getting sick because of the bad acting. The second time it happened he tried to ignore it. The third time it happened he realized what was going on and he told Nikki, assuming she would just forget about it and he’d have gotten the information out, which was easier said than done. When complaining to her about those stupid feelings he nearly broke down and humiliated himself in the process.

After thinking it over he decided the easiest way to get rid of these godforsaken emotions was to get him to stop acting, and he wouldn’t have to worry about it ever again. Unfortunately Preston forbade him from stopping his plays, even going so far as to force him to be in one. A few minutes later he saw him come out of the forest with no trunk and walking towards the side of the stage with a stapler and his cast list. He attached it to the stage wall and whistled for everyone’s attention. Within a few minutes all the campers who had auditioned were huddled around searching for their names on the list.

“Ooh! I’m a snake! Hisssss!” Nikki seemed satisfied with her role in the play.

“Vam..pire? Why are there vampires in this?” Neil seemed confused with his casting.

Max reluctantly got up from the stage, heading over to join the group and waiting for it to disperse before checking for his name. Preston had told him he was going to be a very important character, and that it was imperative that he be in the play.

“Max...Romeo. Preston is….also Romeo?” He pulled back from the paper and looked around for Preston to address the mistake.

“Hey Preston! I think you fucked up your list. Why are we both Romeo?” Max kind of hoped he ended up being an understudy, and he wouldn’t have to act at all.

“Ah, well you see, according to the title of the play- Romeo and Juliet III: Romeo and Romeo, it makes sense that there be two!” Max put together the information in his head, his face reddening as he came to a conclusion.

“Does that mean we’re gonna be like uh...boyfriends or something?”

“Of course not! The entire play is about the process of the two coming together and falling in love, boyfriends comes later!”

None of the campers seemed to be as concerned with this as Max. Surely for someone who has a crush on his fellow Romeo this would be good news, but it only set off alarms in his head. Once he figured out his feelings he had no intention of ever acting of them, because he was sure it would go up in flames. Now the whole concept of it going well was just being dangled in front of his face, and as soon as there was applause (or booing) it would be over. It was just plain unfair.

“Are you sure I have to be in this play?”

“Absolutely.”

Yes, one of the reasons Preston cast Max the way he did was because he was a perfect fit for the way he wrote the other Romeo. The other reason was, he wrote the other Romeo that way on purpose. It all sounded so smoothly in his head, until he actually thought about the process of getting Max to participate. Then he got a great idea on how to get him to act, though he didn’t like it all. Withholding Max’s most important possession from him to get what he wanted made him feel really bad, but he got it and that’s what mattered.

“Alright everyone, gather round! I will now pass out copies of the script. Look it over and try to find your lines.”

Preston picked up a stack of papers and handed them out to everyone. Unlike the cast list and flyers, they were printed. He had gotten them by stealing David’s laptop and printing out tons of them. He would have handwritten them but his hand would have gotten tired. Max looked down at the script he was handed and flipped through it.

“Hey Preston, am I Romeo 1 or Romeo 2?” Preston turned around from arguing with Nerris over her lines and walked over to Max.

“I’m glad you asked! You will be Romeo 2, your lines are highlighted in purple!” He looked back down at the script, noticing that everyone’s lines were highlighted a different color.

Upon looking over his designated lines Max couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He knew what to expect with Preston’s writing but he didn’t expect the lines of someone who shared his personality to be so cheesy. He’d have thought they’d be more brooding and offensive. Instead he was supposed to talk about some kind of Shakespearean shit and romantic speeches.

“Geez, is Mr. Honeynuts even worth it?” He muttered to himself.

“Okay you mongrels, first line goes to Romeo 2! Max, why don’t you start us off?” Max flipped back to the first page and cleared his throat.

“Why, I have everything. Riches, luxuries, and yet, it seems there is still something I feel I am missing.” Max sighed, not happy about having to read something so stupid, especially in front of other people.

The rest of the read-through was uneventful. Everyone’s parts were read as anyone would have thought. Everything about it was predictable, up until three quarters through. He should have known that Preston’s corny writing could get so much worse. There were a lot of things he would say, but he would not say such gushy shit.

“It has been millenia since Robo-Romeo was destroyed in the war, since Juliet’s passing, but my son, Romeo 2 lives on!”

Max missed his cue, and disregarded all ‘passion’ he had in the audition. It was tiresome, a large part of the play was backstory where Preston tried to connect his previous play to this one. Halfway through his monologue he made eye contact with Preston, and he mouthed for him to read more dramatically.

“Alas, I am alive and I know not of this Juliet, pray tell, give unto me my Romeo!” It took all of his strength not to punch someone in the face. He hated this ‘Ye Olde English’ speak. There were many lines that Max was not happy about having to read aloud, and his last one was no exception.

“My dearest Romeo, come closer to me that I may kiss thine...darling..face. Seriously?”

“Hey, did you have to break character on your last line, you were doing so well! Dolph, can you read over your last part again without the accent?”

“Vhat accent?” Preston inhaled deeply and told him to take it from the top.

While Preston did his best to explain to Dolph how to pronounce certain words Max found he had trouble breathing clearly. The corny lines that he had to read were enough, but this was just overkill. He had to kiss him, and there was no way around it unless he wanted to see Preston rip the head off his teddy bear. Well, he probably wouldn’t do that. He turned back to Max with a big smile.

“You’re doing really well! Keep it up Romeo!” His face flushed and he scoffed, refusing to make eye contact with him.

“Okay everyone, let’s start again from the beginning!” Max took a deep breath, and flipped back to the first page.  
\--  
If there was one thing Max learned about play rehearsal it was that Preston liked to rehearse like fifteen times in every practice. To be fair, Max had gotten his lines down relatively well, but it wasn’t something he was proud of. If it were up to him he wouldn’t have any part in this. He would have definitely taken the butterflies in his stomach while he watched him over having to say such gushy things to him in front of everyone.

 

It was also very tiring, and Max was already a tired person. At this point he was basically a walking corpse, making him much more prone to yelling and not taking people’s shit. He was already someone who swore every other word but this relentless practice was not helping him at all.

“Okay kids, listen up! Max, I need your undivided attention!”

“You couldn’t handle my undivided attention.”

David’s eyes widened as he looked down at him. He cleared his throat and went back to instructing the campers on the current activity.

“Uh, you okay there buddy?” Max turned to glare at Neil, and he promptly shut his mouth. He knew very well that messing with Max when he was this mad was a recipe for disaster.

Usually he half assed all activities, if he even assed them at all, but he wasn’t moving. He was starting to fall asleep standing up, and with a poke to the shoulder from Nikki he wavered and stood up straight in an effort to not fall over. He tried to glare at her, but due to her puppy eyes he just scoffed and silently walked over to the join the rest of the group.

“Okay kids, today we’re going to..” Max was tuning David out, right on schedule. He stared down at the ground, particularly fixated on a singular blade of grass. He felt a light pat on his back and he snapped around to see who did it.

“Hey, it’s time for soap carving! Let’s go!”

Max was under the impression that if it weren’t for him being necessary to the play, Preston wouldn’t speak to him at all outside of rehearsal, of course it surprised him that he was being friendly to him. Why on earth would Preston want anything else to do with him? Maybe his successful acting during practice persuaded him to more than tolerate him, talk to him with enthusiasm. He couldn’t understand.

“I tried to carve a beaker, but this just looks like a misshapen rock.”

“Let me try.”

“Harrison you turned it into a cat.”

“Hm. Well, cats are good too.”

The rest of the day would have been bleak as usual, if not for Preston deliberately sitting next to him and making pleasant conversation. Due to people usually not being nice to Max, he realized he must want something else.

“I tried to make a figure of Shakespeare but my soap split in half-”

“What do you want?” Preston looked away from his soap halves and stared quizzingly at Max.

“What do you mean? To have one piece of soap of cours-”

“You’re talking to me and being all nice to me. You already have my stupid bear, what else could I possibly give you?” He narrowed his eyes.

“A genuine friendly conversation, if you don’t mind. Sometimes I talk to different people. Besides, if your bear is so stupid than why do you want him back?”

“Oh you know what I meant. Why don’t you just make two smaller Shakespeares?” Preston looked at him and smiled.

“I suppose I could do that. Also, there’s more play practice tonight, so prepare yourself! It’s going to be fun!”

There were a lot of things Preston didn’t think he’d ever see, and Max genuinely smiling at him was definitely one of them. It was like a beautiful sunset, just amazing. He wished he knew exactly what he could do to make him smile like that again, he’d give anything.  
\--

After his conversation with Preston, Max had completely forgotten about how tired he was. Talking with Preston was just rejuvenating, he was always excited and fun to talk to. The way he nearly broke character from smiling too much because acting was so fun for him. How he flapped his hands when someone’s performance was really good. He was just such a fun energy, and though he would never admit it, he really loved to be around him. Which was why his friends didn’t understand why he wasn’t so upset about having to go to play rehearsal.

“That’s weird.” On the walk to the stage Neil stared down at Max curiously.

“What is?”

“I haven’t heard one curse word since we left to go to the stage. Are you possessed?”

“Ooh! I’ve always wanted to find a demon!” Max rolled his eyes.

“I’m not possessed. Can’t I just keep my mouth shut ‘cause I feel like it?” Max was cut off by the sound of snickering from beside him, and he looked down at Nikki.

“What’s so funny?” Snickering turned into full blown laughter and Max got even more confused.

“Heh. You know.” Neil was usually the voice of reason but he was surprised to hear him laughing too. He had almost forgotten they were aware of his crush on Preston. His face flushed and he kept his eyes fixated on the ground as he walked.

“Oh shut up, that is absolutely not it.” Neil pat him on the back as an attempt to show he was kidding around.

“I mean you kept teasing me about Harrison, it’s eye for an eye.”

Max insisted his crush on Preston wasn’t why he wasn’t mad about play rehearsal, he even insisted he didn’t have a crush on him at all. What he hadn’t accounted for was that his friends knew he would lie about something like this. He was hoping he could count on their discretion, but he knew deep down that teasing him was one of their favorite activities.

“Alright everyone, shut the fuck up! It’s time to rehearse!” Preston stood in the middle of the stage, watching everyone gather around, scripts in hand. Once he had their attention he hopped off the stage and instructed everyone to start from the beginning.

Preston was very exhaustive when it came to practice, making people go over their lines again if they used an inflection wrong. Though he was a little intimidating when in rehearsal mode, Max still stood next to him. Every time he read a line good Preston would turn to him, beaming.

“You’re doing great, Max! Say it just like that!”

After a while, Preston finally let everyone have a break. He stood on the stage talking to Nerris, fidgeting with something in his hand. Upon closer inspection, Max realized he was holding a small golden key, looking awfully similar to one someone might use to lock a box that has a stuffed bear in it. Max cautiously reached for it, hoping he could get it out of his hand without him realizing. He almost had it, and he made to grab it, and then Preston turned around.

The expression on Preston’s face was of hurt. Max was being nicer, acting near perfectly for his play, even talking to him and smiling around him. Max’s face fell upon seeing Preston’s, and pulled his arm back slowly. Preston clenched his fists and turned around before putting the key back into his pocket. He should have known, the only reason Max was being even remotely nice to him was because he had his stupid bear. He was happy when Max was nice to him and smiling, but now it just felt fake. None of it had been real, of course.

“Shit, sorry Preston I-” But he didn’t turn back around, and it was clear he was struggling not to.

Max had been looking forward to a pleasant rehearsal, talking to Preston more, the happy little compliments when he acted good. Now his lines were lifeless and boring, and avoiding eye contact with Preston. He felt really bad about it. His being nice to him lately was for the bear at first, but had soon turned genuine, and just because Preston was tempting him with the stupid key he had fucked up.

“Alright everyone, good work. The show premieres tomorrow, so invite your friends.” Preston waved everyone off and waited for everyone to leave.  
\--

Max was expecting to be excited for the premiere. Not to show it, of course, but to feel it. Unfortunately, he still felt bad about trying to steal the key from Preston. In an attempt to make himself feel better he told himself that it wasn’t his fault, Preston literally stole from him. He shouldn’t have felt bad about this. Key word was shouldn’t. His shift in mood was drastic, and people noticed.

“Hey Max by the way, when do you want the sandbags to fall on people’s heads? I thought I’d time it for the middle of the play but now I’m thinking no one is standing under them in that scene.” Max instantly remembered his original plans to botch Preston’s play.

“Oh, and I’ve got a bunch of glue and confetti to dump on Preston in the big romantic scene!”

“W-wait guys, I’ve been thinking, you know maybe we should skip the pranks.” Neil and Nikki looked devastated.

“Oh come on, we already set them up ages ago! Just like you told us to! If you wanted us to cancel the pranks couldn’t you have given us like a two day warning?”

“Well I forgot, okay. Just, please no pranks tonight.” His friends looked at him almost concerned.

“We can’t not have any pranks, they’re already set up. There isn’t enough time left to disable them.” Max growled.

“Well just fucking do it okay!”

“But, why?” Nikki tugged on Max’s sweatshirt hood. His eyes went wide. He didn’t expect to have to need a reason.

“B-well, it’s just, Preston’s has M-. Preston’s been working really hard on this, for a long time. The summer isn’t gonna last forever, and he deserves to have one good performance.”

“Since when do you care about Preston’s plays anyway?” Max stared daggers at Neil.

“J-because. I’m heading to the stage.”

It was ten minutes until Max even had to leave for the stage but he was set on talking to Preston. He wanted to make sure everything was okay before the play happened. If he had to do romantic scenes with him and he was still hurt, his play would end up being really awkward. He was hoping that for the first time people would applaud one of Preston’s performances. Max could admit, they were sort of kitschy but he thought he deserved some positive recognition.

“Hey Preston, you back here?”

Max walked up the stairs backstage, looking for him. After looking all around, he realized he wasn’t there. He didn’t understand, he would have thought he’d be on the stage getting everything ready, but the props were barely set up. Suddenly, he heard a quiet sigh from the nearby bushes. Looking over, he saw Preston slumped up against a bush hugging his knees. He walked over until he was in front of him, and he didn’t even look up at him.

“Hey, you alright man?” In lieu of responding, Preston reached behind him and pulled out Max’s teddy bear, holding it out for him. Max would have reached out and grabbed it, but remembered what he was here for. He pushed the bear away, back into Preston’s arms.

“W- don’t you want it back? You won’t have to do the stupid play anymore.” The way he called his own play stupid broke Max’s heart. Even worse, it was technically his fault.

“The bear isn’t the only reason I want to do the play.” Upon closer inspection, Max could see tears in the corner of his eyes. Goddamnit.

“You’re a good actor. So good your stup- great acting gives me butterflies. Besides, you came here for acting camp, and now you’re gonna act.” If the stupid way he performed wasn’t enough, the way Preston smiled at Max’s little pep talk was just killer. Max couldn’t hold eye contact any longer.

“Pick yourself up, okay? Let’s set up the props on the stage.”

The way Preston grinned up at him with tears in the corners of his eyes was far too heartwarming for Max to deal with. He couldn’t help smiling at the way he flapped his hands and stood up promptly, excited once more for his new play.

“Yeah! Let’s go!”  
\--

With only a small amount of time left before people went to the stage, Max and Preston had to rush to set things up. A lot of stuff ended up in the wrong place, but they did their best.

“Does it matter if rock B is right next to rock C?”

“It’s supposed to be left of rock C.” Max moved the rock with his foot and stood in front of the stage with Preston.

“I think it looks good. Sorry I’m not that great at setting up props and shit.” When he turned to him, there was that damn smile again.

“I think it looks good too! It’s not the original set up, but I like the aesthetic of it.”

Suddenly, behind them was the sound of approaching campers, immersed in their own conversations. Preston hurried backstage to finalize anything else he might have forgotten. Max was joined by his friends once again, and they were happy to see him with a small smile on his face.

“What are you so giddy about?”

“Is it the kiss? I always hate those scenes, but I can just growl this time!”

“No, this is just my face.” It was clear Nikki and Neil were able to put two and two together, concluding that Max was pretty deep in his crush. Max didn’t have the energy to debate it. Neil stopped smiling, and him and Nikki looked at each other.

“What?” They looked back at him and Neil scratched his arm.

“Uh, we tried to disable the pranks. We really did.”

“They’re still set up?”

“Well they’re not life threatening. I don’t think. I might have to check those calculations agai-”

“You did everything you could?” Nikki and Neil made eye contact again, smiling at each other, then doing their best not to be suspicious.

“Absolutely everything.” While walking towards backstage, they snickered to each other. Just when he thought the play would end up good, he had forgotten to confirm with his friends about the pranks. He hoped something would malfunction and nothing would happen.  
\--

The play was going well as Max had hoped it would, and it appeared as if the campers and counselors in the audience were actually enjoying it. Everyone seemed to remember their lines well, and if they had messed up slightly it was easy for them to recover. Scene after scene went by, and finally they had come to the romantic scene, the one Preston loved writing and was so excited to perform. Max’s big line was up, and he cleared his throat. He had Preston in his arms and dipped towards the floor of the stage after an inexplicable series of events, each more romantic than the last. It was time.

“My Romeo, may I kiss thine darling face?”

The way Preston smiled when he asked was odd. It seemed as if, he might have been looking forward to the kiss as Max may or may not have been. The way Max bent down was awkward, partially because he actually had an excuse to kiss his crush, partially because everyone was watching him. The whole thing was overwhelming, and Max opted to press a small kiss onto his cheek. The audience erupted into applause, and after looking up, he could see the campers who weren’t in the play had enjoyed it, and David was rambling to Gwen about how proud he was of Max. He could just tell he’d never hear the end of it.

Max breathed a sigh of relief. The play had passed and none of the pranks had gone off. He then realized he spoke too soon as he saw Neil counting to three on his fingers. On the count of three, one of the sand bags had exploded and he flinched nearly dropping Preston onto the hard stage floor.

“Awww.” Max opened his eyes and looked around. The floor and surrounding area was littered with little red heart confetti.

The audience gave a second round of applause, even stood, giving a few shouts of ‘bravo’ here and there. Max looked around. Nikki was waving to the audience, a bouquet of flowers had suddenly appeared in Neil’s arms.

“Good prank, guys.”


End file.
